Zimbabwe alleges Pa. man illegally hunted lion

[IIIIIREPOIIIII]

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Now there are two: Zimbabwe accused Jan Casimir Seski of Murrysville, Pennsylvania, a gynecological oncologist on Sunday of illegally killing a lion in April, adding to the outcry over a Minnesota dentist the African government wants to extradite for killing a well-known lion named Cecil in early July.

Zimbabwe's National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority accused Jan Casimir Seski of Murrysville, Pennsylvania, of shooting the lion with a bow and arrow in April near Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park, without approval, on land where it was not allowed.

Landowner Headman Sibanda was arrested and is assisting police, it said.

Seski is a gynecological oncologist who directs the Center for Bloodless Medicine and Surgery at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh.

He's also an active big-game hunter, according to safari outfitters and bow-hunting sites where pictures of kills identify "Dr. Jan Seski" as the man standing next to slain animals including elephants, an impala, a kudu, a Nyala, a hippo and an ostrich.

Those images also match the doctor's appearance on his medical practice's website.

The Associated Press called and knocked on the door at Seski's home, which is set back among some woods outside Pittsburgh. The AP also left a message with an answering service for his medical practice, with no immediate response.

A handful of Seski's neighbors said he mostly keeps to himself and that he'd been buying up the land around his property. Ernest Hahn said Seski put up no-trespassing signs, breaking the rural area's tradition of people feeling free to cross property lines to hunt.

Hahn said Seski can be "quirky," walking around wearing a low-slung pistol "like a gunslinger," for example, but he appreciates that his neighbor is protecting land from development.

"It seemed to me everything he does is aboveboard," Hahn said. "I've never seen him done anything illegal or unsportsmanlike at all."

National Parks spokeswoman Caroline Washaya Moyo said Seski had provided his name and other identifying information for a government database when he came for the hunt.

"When hunters come into the country they fill a document stating their personal details, the amount they have paid for the hunt, the number of animals to be hunted, the species to be hunted and the area and period where that hunt is supposed to take place," she said. "The American conducted his hunt in an area where lion hunting is outlawed. The landowner who helped him with the hunt also did not have a have a quota for lion hunting."

Stewart Dorrington, who operates Melorani Safaris and owns a game reserve in neighboring South Africa where Seski hunted in 2012, said the American seemed like a "perfect gentleman." Dorrington said they had not had any contact recently.

"He was a great guy," Dorrington said. "Everything he did was perfectly legal and above board and a great help to our conservation efforts."

Dorrington said he had converted his cattle ranch into a game reserve in the 1980s, and that funds from trophy hunting of antelope are essential to conserving wildlife.

Two other illegal lion hunts also were recorded last year in Zimbabwe, said Geoffrey Matipano, conservation director for the wildlife authority. He did not provide details on those cases.

Zimbabwean authorities have said they will seek the extradition of Minnesota dentist Walter James Palmer, alleging he did not have authorization to kill the lion named Cecil a month ago. The lion was lured out of Hwange park, wounded with a bow and arrow and then tracked down and shot, conservationists said.

Two Zimbabwean citizens were arrested and face charges in the case in which Palmer has been implicated. Palmer said he relied on his professional guides to ensure his hunt was legal.

On Saturday, Zimbabwe's wildlife authority said it had suspended the hunting of lions, leopards and elephants in the Hwange area. Bow and arrow hunts also were suspended, and can only be approved by the head of the wildlife authority.

___

Contributors include Christopher Torchia in Johannesburg; Kristen De Groot and Ron Todt in Philadelphia and Zach Brendza in Murrysville, Pennsylvania; and Deepti Hajela in New York City.

[ItchyTick]

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Now there are two: Zimbabwe accused a gynecological oncologist from Pennsylvania on Sunday of illegally killing a lion in April, adding to the outcry over a Minnesota dentist the African government wants to extradite for killing a well-known lion named Cecil in early July.

Zimbabwe's National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority accused Jan Casimir Seski of Murrysville, Pennsylvania, of shooting the lion with a bow and arrow in April near Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park, without approval, on land where it was not allowed.

Landowner Headman Sibanda was arrested and is assisting police, it said.

Seski is a gynecological oncologist who directs the Center for Bloodless Medicine and Surgery at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh.

He's also an active big-game hunter, according to safari outfitters and bow-hunting sites where pictures of kills identify "Dr. Jan Seski" as the man standing next to slain animals including elephants, an impala, a kudu, a Nyala, a hippo and an ostrich.

Those images also match the doctor's appearance on his medical practice's website.

The Associated Press called and knocked on the door at Seski's home, which is set back among some woods outside Pittsburgh. The AP also left a message with an answering service for his medical practice, with no immediate response.

A handful of Seski's neighbors said he mostly keeps to himself and that he'd been buying up the land around his property. Ernest Hahn said Seski put up no-trespassing signs, breaking the rural area's tradition of people feeling free to cross property lines to hunt.

Hahn said Seski can be "quirky," walking around wearing a low-slung pistol "like a gunslinger," for example, but he appreciates that his neighbor is protecting land from development.

"It seemed to me everything he does is aboveboard," Hahn said. "I've never seen him done anything illegal or unsportsmanlike at all."

National Parks spokeswoman Caroline Washaya Moyo said Seski had provided his name and other identifying information for a government database when he came for the hunt.

"When hunters come into the country they fill a document stating their personal details, the amount they have paid for the hunt, the number of animals to be hunted, the species to be hunted and the area and period where that hunt is supposed to take place," she said. "The American conducted his hunt in an area where lion hunting is outlawed. The landowner who helped him with the hunt also did not have a have a quota for lion hunting."

Stewart Dorrington, who operates Melorani Safaris and owns a game reserve in neighboring South Africa where Seski hunted in 2012, said the American seemed like a "perfect gentleman." Dorrington said they had not had any contact recently.

"He was a great guy," Dorrington said. "Everything he did was perfectly legal and above board and a great help to our conservation efforts."

Dorrington said he had converted his cattle ranch into a game reserve in the 1980s, and that funds from trophy hunting of antelope are essential to conserving wildlife.

Two other illegal lion hunts also were recorded last year in Zimbabwe, said Geoffrey Matipano, conservation director for the wildlife authority. He did not provide details on those cases.

Zimbabwean authorities have said they will seek the extradition of Minnesota dentist Walter James Palmer, alleging he did not have authorization to kill the lion named Cecil a month ago. The lion was lured out of Hwange park, wounded with a bow and arrow and then tracked down and shot, conservationists said.

Two Zimbabwean citizens were arrested and face charges in the case in which Palmer has been implicated. Palmer said he relied on his professional guides to ensure his hunt was legal.

On Saturday, Zimbabwe's wildlife authority said it had suspended the hunting of lions, leopards and elephants in the Hwange area. Bow and arrow hunts also were suspended, and can only be approved by the head of the wildlife authority.

___

Contributors include Christopher Torchia in Johannesburg; Kristen De Groot and Ron Todt in Philadelphia and Zach Brendza in Murrysville, Pennsylvania; and Deepti Hajela in New York City.

I don't trophy hunt, don't get the appeal.

Another third world country where anything goes for a few bucks.

I wonder how much the Zimbabwe gov't will shake them down for? I suspect that's what they are pissed about. They didn't get their cut.

[F16vipers]

I just find it interesting how the news media can't stop pushing this story...and yet Marine recruiters are killed by an Islamic terrorist and it gets minimal coverage at best. Is the life of an animal really valued above the life of a service member these days?

[ChemicalReaper]

I just find it interesting how the news media can't stop pushing this story...and yet Marine recruiters are killed by an Islamic terrorist and it gets minimal coverage at best. Is the life of an animal really valued above the life of a service member these days?

Value of life? No. The real value in this kind of story is that it distracts the low-information voters from whatever politics are going on behind the scenes that week.

[cdi]

A gynecologist?
The answer is simple, he wanted to brag to his peers that no one of them ever shot a pussy that damn big.

[Don Quixote]

Here we go again. The latest media "Cause Celebre" ... Everyone ... Get Outraged on 3, 2, 1 ... GO

[armabill]

Cecil the lion is dead.

The zebras, gazelles and other animals that Cecil preyed upon are ecstatic that he's gone.
They are partying like there's no tomorrow! About time someone or somebody took him out.

Also, the next male lion in line has finally got his prayers answered. Now he doesn't
have to fight the "old man" for harem rights. It's defaulted to him.

Hooray for The death of Cecil !! Long live the hierarchy of the food chain.

[dkf]

I'm not a fan of these two guys and the way they "hunt". However it should be obvious now that the liberal media is hanging on this (which is not a big deal) to deflect on other things of actual importance....Like the Obama Administration skull fucking every American with the current power plant emissions deal.(among of things)

[HKusp 45]

I'm not a fan of these two guys and the way they "hunt". However it should be obvious now that the liberal media is hanging on this (which is not a big deal) to deflect on other things of actual importance....Like the Obama Administration skull fucking every American with the current power plant emissions deal.(among of things)

Skull fucking .... perfect description, really were going to give up a citizen to Fucking Zimbabwe? Soooo many other things that the people we put in charge should be worried about, Like its own citizens.

[Remington788]

I wonder how Zimbabwe's tourism industry is doing now?